Running as fast as I can to stay in place

So much work to do, so little time. The summer whizzed by at a rate faster than I expected, and now I'm just two days away from the start of the fall semester. (As my wife commented the other day, I'm continuing my education in spite of the university's best efforts.)

There has been a lot to keep me busy. Outside of working on my book, I have been putting the finishing touches on a proposal for a paper about Edward Tyson's 1699 dissection of a chimpanzee (although, if accepted, it won't be published until 2010) and I have another history of paleontology abstract due at the end of September. I have to finish up a shorter, popular piece on hyenas for publication this December, too, and on top of that I've also got some big blogging news to announce in a few weeks. I have been writing more than ever before, at the moment it doesn't keep the lights on.

A lot has changed in the past year, and overall I'm more confident about my writing than I had been even a few months ago. The dilemma I'm left with, however, is how to divide my writing time. I definitely want to try and publish as many peer-reviewed publications as I can to help me academically, but those publications don't really mean anything to popular publishers. If I write popular articles, on the other hand, I can build up my writing resume but such articles aren't considered "real" publications by those in academia. Both have to take a back seat to my education, but trying to become a writer and a scientist is much more complex than I had anticipated.

Update: I have just sent off one proposal. If I have some good news to share about it in coming days, you will certainly see it here. Now it's back to the grind...